“Maddening” Gordon Brown has “zero emotional intelligence”: Tony Blair

Former British prime minister Tony Blair’s autobiography had harsh words for his long-time Labour rival, Gordon Brown, who lost the U.K.’s May election after taking over as leader in 2007. “Political calculation, yes. Political feelings, no. Analytical intelligence, absolutely. Emotional intelligence, zero,” is how Blair sums up his former friend and foe. Blair explains that the men’s rivalry goes back to 1994, when Blair wanted Brown to run for the leadership with the younger Blair as deputy leader. Brown wanted to wait. Blair got tired of waiting and soon became leader himself, followed by a landslide general election in 1997. After that, he writes that Brown constantly blocked his reforms. At one point in 2004, at the height of opposition to the Iraq war, Blair admits he considered stepping down. He hung on. After that, his relationship with Brown “deteriorated sharply.” Blair says he has “no very obvious answer,” for why he never got rid the “maddening” Gordon Brown, although he does hint at it in the book. “The truth is that every time I considered who might replace him, I concluded he was still the best for the job,” writes Blair. Tony Blair’s A Journey: My Political Life goes on sale in Canada Thursday.

Guardian